Deduction just isn't enough, Conclusion
by T. A. Gardner
Summary: The conclusion to the earlier story. Holmes meets Lori 16. She is nothing and everything he expected.


**Deduction isn't enough part 2**

It is snowing lightly outside the brown stone. Holmes sits in the library facing a low fire, staring at a mass of pictures and pages of information pasted on the wall above.

"Are you staring at that _again_?" Joan asks, standing behind Holmes.

"The more I discover about Lori Sanparri, the bigger the puzzle grows" Sherlock replies, without looking at Joan. He stands and points at the collage of items. "This woman did not exist before September of 2011. The last time authorities have any record of her is March of 2012. She was in Hong Kong at the time. After that, she vanishes again just as completely as she first appeared. Her faculty advisor, a Doctor Ichinose, disappeared with her. Oddly, she wasn't an academic professor, and her published research is mostly rubbish."

"Maybe it was an alias" Joan offers.

Holmes grabs a sheet from the collage. "It most certainly was, and is," he says, waving the sheet at Joan. "This is supposedly her birth certificate. It is one of the finest forgeries I've ever seen!"

Joan cocks her head to one side, lip twisted up. "What makes you think that?"

"The ink used" Holmes replies, jabbing a finger at the sheet of paper. "It has ferric oxide and a binder polymer. Yet, this original document was supposedly produced on an IBM Selectric typewriter in 1988."

Joan whirls and heads toward the kitchen, throwing a hand in the air. "Do I even want to know how you got an original copy of that woman's birth certificate?"

Holmes follows her. "She graduated from MIT in 2011, supposedly. There is a transcript and records for her but," he waves a book at her. "…this is MIT's yearbook. She doesn't appear in it."

"How did she manage to put original documents in so many archives?" Joan asks.

"How indeed," Holmes replies.

The next morning Watson comes into the kitchen. Holmes is sitting at the table sipping a cup of coffee staring at an envelope and card in front of him.

"What's the matter Sherlock?" she asks.

He holds up the card without looking at her. "This."

Watson takes the card, looking closely at it.

"I found it here earlier. Our intruder must've returned to deliver it."

Joan hands the card back to him. "Lori Sanparri wants to meet you on the roof of the building tonight? There's a major snow storm coming in this afternoon. How…?"

He holds up a second slip of paper. "She said I must be alone. This is for you."

Joan takes the slip, her eyebrows deeply furrowed. "This is a five-star hotel in Tribeca! I have reservations at Mycroft's flagship restaurant tonight too?"

"Quite" Holmes replies. "You should be off. I'm to meet her alone or not at all." He gestures at the slip in Joan's hand. "I suggest you abuse yourself of her generosity."

Joan's shoulders slump. "How come I get the feeling this is another Irene Moriarty, or your father, we're dealing with here?"

Holmes returns the thinnest of smiles. "Because, we most certainly are Watson. We most certainly are."

Holmes stands at the door leading out to the roof. He pulls his phone from his pocket. _Out of Service Area_ is displayed. He stuffs it back in his pocket with a frown and opens the door.

Night has fallen and the snow is really coming down. A woman about 180 cm tall, wearing a full-length snow leopard print coat with the hood up, is looking at one of his bee hives closely. She taps the box with a polished nail. Her face is hidden.

Holmes rocks on his toes, hands in the pockets of his pea coat. "Lori Sanparri, I presume?"

She turns to face him. "They remind me of the Maskai." Her voice is lyrical, the smile genuine and disarming. "Sherlock Holmes. I _understand_ you prefer no title with that."

She bows ever so slightly. "I am Lori _Sixteen_. Sanparri is to fit in. You must be cold. Might we go inside? I would so enjoy a cup of your Adagio number nine oolong tea." Her smile seems to melt the snow.

Holmes studies her for a moment. He turns to open the door and sweeps a hand as he stiffens, with a thin smile. "Of course."

In the kitchen Holmes puts a kettle on, getting the tea out of the cupboard. Lori removes her coat. She is wearing a sleek, skin tight blue body suit that flows like water over her. Exotic flowers bloom on the suit then fall, floating to disappear as if carried on water. The effect is three dimensional.

Holmes turns to face her. "Would you care for…" He examines her appearance with a studied eye. "That's quite the piece of technology you're wearing."

Lori smiles. She touches her left wrist, manipulating some unseen controls. The suit shimmers into invisibility, leaving just her short off-white fur lined boots, head, and hands visible. She touches her wrist again and the water and flowers effect returns.

"You now know part of how _we_ were able to enter your inner sanctum, as you prefer to call it." She takes a chair.

Holmes sets a cup in front of her, pours her a cup, and one for himself, sitting down at the end of the table. "You have me at a disadvantage." He gives her a thin smile.

She sips her tea, closing her eyes lolling her head back slightly. "Um! The tea makes this _alien_ environment almost bearable."

Lori turns slightly, removing a thin metal case from her coat. "As you have deduced by now, I am not human. I am a synthetic human analog. You might think of me as an organic super computer, and I will prove to you everything I have just claimed." She sips her tea, scrunching her shoulders up with pleasure.

"Given what I've seen to date on you, I don't believe it will take much more convincing for me to draw that conclusion," Holmes replies. "Is the tea satisfactory?" He goes to pour her more.

Lori moves the thin metal case between them, opening it. "I brought you and your companion Doctor Watson gifts. I do hope they are to your liking. It can be difficult for me to determine what will provide a positive emotional response in aliens, like yourselves."

"Why didn't you want Watson here for this?" Holmes asks, still looking at her carefully.

She pops up a keyboard / display that looks similar to a laptop computer's. "I am confused. I was sure you would have deduced that Doctor Watson would not be fully capable of dealing with the conversation we are having."

She smiles at Holmes. "Oh! Understood. You wanted me to confirm your deduction."

The surface of the case now has a silvery shimmer to it. Lori puts her arm in up to her elbow and begins to fish around for something. Holmes eyebrows arch up and he takes an intense interest in the case.

"A portable pocket universe of approximately two cubic meters in size," Lori says. "Yes, Doctor Ichinose's work was correct and not _mostly rubbish,_ as you postulated earlier."

"So, you do have me under surveillance" Holmes replies.

Lori pulls a Plexiglas cube out of the case. It is about six inches on a side in size. "Yes Sherlock, I do. I can manipulate, use, and control every electronic device in your home as I sit here. That is why the _smart phone_ in your pocket does not work. I disabled it."

Inside the cube is a greyish rock and some similarly colored soil. She places it in front of Holmes. Reaching in again she removes a bouquet of exotic flowers and sets them next to the cube.

She taps the cube. "A sample of lunar material for you. I _compute_ you will be fascinated by that."

" _That_ came from the Moon?" Holmes asks. The shock is apparent.

"Correct" Lori replies. "It is yours." She points at the flowers. "This is a replica of Species 14037, an elegant alien lifeform similar to flowering plants on this world. I was only able to make a reproduction. It is for Doctor Watson."

Lori pushes the pocket universe towards Holmes. "You may examine it. Please do not remove any of the contents. Many of the items inside have security systems included and you could be injured or die if you do."

She pulls her hand back quickly as Holmes goes to examine the case. "Please be careful not to get too close to me Sherlock, I am highly addictive, sexually. I _understand_ you are an addict. I am one too, but by design. I do not wish to harm you."

As Holmes examines the case, "What do want in return for the gifts and telling me all this? There must be some string attached."

"Other than a request you drop all inquiry into the Homestead case, and keeping what we have discussed to yourself, I want nothing for the gifts. They are yours," she replies.

Holmes puts the case down. He stares at Lori. "It isn't going to be that easy. You have some ulterior motive, just as my father would. I can see you're every bit as manipulative as he is. You _want_ something, or else you wouldn't have bothered to come. There's always a string attached. What is it?"

Lori looks at the floor. "I do not want to involve you in things. Your father's organization already is, but you need not be." She hesitates. "I have studied you. You know that."

She looks up at Holmes, giving him a weak smile. "Sherlock Holmes, would you be my sponsor?"

Holmes shoots up, standing at something like attention. "Your sponsor?"

Lori is biting her lip. A tear rolls down her cheek. "Yes. I am an… an alien on an alien world. I need someone I can confide in. I chose you."

Holmes picks up a napkin and reaches toward her.

Lori pulls back, turning her face away from him. "NO! You cannot touch me! If you do, you will be uncontrollably aroused. I cannot control that and you cannot fight what would happen. You would become addicted to me."

"I see," Holmes replies.

Lori looks cautiously back at him. "That is how I was designed and made." She takes a thumb drive out of her coat and places it on the table. "That contains all the data to communicate with me in Ginsharian, my primary language, the _code_ your mathematician Mister Emple, was trying to solve."

"Please, be my sponsor."

Joan returns. Sunlight is filtering through the front windows of the brownstone. Sherlock is asleep, face down on the sofa. She kicks it.

Sherlock stirs, shakes himself, and jumps to his feet. "Watson! You've returned."

"So, how'd your meeting with Miss Sanparri go?"

Holmes charges off to the kitchen and returns. He thrusts his hand out towards Joan. "She brought this gift for you."

Joan examines the bouquet. "They're beautiful. What kind of flower is this?"

"One of her own design," Holmes replies.

"So, I take it you hit it off with her?" Joan asks. "Did she tell you what you wanted to know?"

Holmes gives Joan as genuine a smile as ever he could. "That she did Watson, for now, I am her sponsor."

End music: Giuseppe Ottaviani feat. Shannon Hurley: _I am your shadow_


End file.
